International House and Loa Present Father First

Last Updated: Thursday, June 28, 2018 3:19 PM

New Orleans (March 7, 2018), New Orleans’ premiere boutique hotel, International House, offers locals and visitors alike experiences that manifest the rites and rituals heightening daily life in this most spiritual city. On the evening of Saturday, March 10, the hotel will begin the classic Italian Feast for San Giuseppe, St. Joseph’s Day, with complimentary accordion music, Sicilian pizza, sidewalk art and local flair.

Like New Orleans’ extensive Sicilian community, who practice this ritual in private homes and neighborhood churches, International House honors St. Joseph, from March 10 until the actual feast day, March 19, 2018, with an altar installation representing New Orleans’ culinary and cultural communities. Just inside the hotel, great artistic originality unfolds with a magical display of cookies from Angelo Brocato, breads from Angelo’s Bakery, handcrafted statues, artifacts, and symbolic relics. Additionally, a chalk artist will be at work creating beautiful, temporal sidewalk art beside the hotel, illustrating that life is a gift, though fleeting, and that the best way to show appreciation for a gift is to embrace it.

From 4PM – 7PM on March 10,2018, the sidewalk celebration will lure passersby into the front door of International House on Saturday afternoon, where they will order a ritualistic libation in Loa Bar, Limoncello made with Sorrento Lemons from Loa’s own lemon grove, created by Creative Director [AKA Spirit Handler] Alan Walter. Walter explains, “When human efforts inevitably fall short, St. Joseph specializes in the issue at hand, gets called upon to step in and settle the matter.”